Canada is on the cusp of a bioeconomic revolution. With its foundation of expansive forests and agricultural land, Canada is poised to unlock the value of its bio-based resources potential.

The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) has a big mandate.

With increasing urbanization comes an increased tax on our environment and its ability to sustain us.

The world has changed in the last few weeks due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Those of us who live in a city are dealing with the lockdown by working from home and only emerging to exercise and buy groceries. But what’s it like for large companies operating production facilities in the forest products industry?

Resolute Forest Products recently announced a $27 million investment to build a 21 tonne per day cellulose filaments plant at its Kénogami paper mill, to start up in 2021.

If you’ve worked for more than one employer in your career, or even for the same company under different leaders, you’ll be very aware that when goals are not very well defined, productivity can suffer, and you and your colleagues could even be working at cross-purposes.

Sweden, like the rest of the world, is hit by the Covid-19 virus and makes strong efforts to minimise the spreading and effects of it.

A year ago I wrote about the fact that pulp and paper companies in addition to their core businesses are treading new paths outside the traditional. Integration along the pulp and paper value chain has been executed for many decades, in particular by acquiring packaging converters and paper merchants.

Lignin is gaining an ever increasing interest from researchers as well as from forest, plastic and energy industries. Having been mainly regarded and used as an energy source by the pulp and paper industry in the past, it is now also seen as a renewable raw material with great potential for an array of products replacing those fossil-based.

With over $2.9B U.S. in revenue from exports of commercial pulp, tissue paper and other forest products in more than 70 countries, Resolute Forest Products (RFP) couldn’t really be faulted for deciding to sit pretty and enjoy the ride of being a Canadian leader in its field.

Kruger uses the best technology to produce high-end tissue

If you work in the pulp and paper industry, chances are you've come across the term circular economy, which has been creating a lot of hype as of late.

In my last blog, I emphasized that Green Chemistry Principles provide useful, actionable ways to drive innovation strategies and accelerate transformation in the pulp and paper (P&P) industry. Here, I will focus on a facilitating technology in the development and implementation of biomolecules, biomaterials, and bioproducts from biorefinery: molecular modeling (MM).

Increased level of pollution worldwide (soil, air and water) calls for urgent action and scalable solutions.

The Kraft pulping process, patented in 1879 and implemented in 1890, has shown resilience for more than 100 years, as it provides higher pulp strength and allows for about 98% of chemicals recovery cycle and energy efficiency.

As part of its work on massive wood construction, FPInnovations recently published the Design Guide for Timber-Concrete Composite Floors in Canada.

Western hemlock can have higher moisture content than most other native trees, causing it to sink during transportation and storage in water.

No one has been left untouched by the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless of the negative feelings you are probably harbouring towards the virus, it is undeniable that it’s been a catalyst for change. The pandemic has prompted the forestry industry to rethink its ways and accelerate its evolution.

The Forest Stewardship Council of Canada recently had some rare words of praise for the Canadian paper packaging industry!

Don’t get me wrong. I fully support the use of more post-consumer material in packaging and products. Just not some of the BS that goes with it.

The Canadian branch of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is trying to distance itself from a promotional video that has angered its Canadian packaging customers. But the video itself, with two demonstrably false claims in it, still remains accessible to the public on FSC Canada’s website.

Wood fiber costs fell for many hardwood pulp-producing countries worldwide in the 1Q/20.

There were relatively few price changes for sawlogs throughout the world in the 1Q/20 despite interruptions in trade and uncertainty in short-term lumber demand in many of the key markets.

The Coronavirus Epidemic has negatively impacted the supply chains for numerous industry sectors worldwide the past few months.

July 7, 2020 - The International Council of Forest and Paper Associations (ICFPA) recently announced its biennial international Blue Sky Young Researchers Award contest to generate interest and raise awareness around innovations taking place in the world of forestry.

Yesterday, the federal government announced renewed funding for Investment in Forest Industry Transformation (IFIT) program and the Indigenous Forestry Initiative (IFI) to accelerate innovation and Indigenous-led economic development in Canada’s forest sector.

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the world in a permanent way.  Over the last few months, Canada’s forest products industry has overcome unprecedented operational challenges, even as we moved to embrace our designation as an ‘essential’ Canadian service.

Planar microwave moisture measurement, since its inception in 2000, continues to develop sophisticated instrumentation tools which greatly expand the utility of the technology into an ever-expanding range of papermaking applications. 

Introduction

As early as 2016, studies were introduced that showed numerous process control benefits that can be realized on paper machines equipped with the EasyScan traversing permeability, water content, and temperature measurement capabilities.

Introduction

In the day-to-day operation of paper machines, little thought is typically applied to carrier rope runs until something changes that affects downtime related to sheet transfers and/or rope replacement.

COVID-19 is having a huge impact on the world economy, the forest products industry is no exception, as many pulp, paper, and wood producers are slowing down their activities.

FPInnovations held the world's first platooning tests on forestry roads in Rivière-aux-Rats, near La Tuque, QC, last week, paving the way towards the use of autonomous vehicles.

The installation of a new turbine generator isn't expected to just generate new revenue for Domtar's Windsor, QC facility, it will also produce18 MW of electricity, optimize the mill's steam, all the while ensuring operational flexibility.

Held at FPInnovations headquarters in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, the 2018 edition of the Pulp, Paper and Bioproducts Course provided hands-on training to 45 participants coming from Canada and the United States.

On October 24, Kruger hosted nearly 100 employees, dignitaries and partners to celebrate the end of a project that saw a complete rebuild of a paper machine at its Trois-Rivières, QC, facility.

Cristini, a manufacturer of carrier rope, threading systems and spiral fabrics for filtration and paper machine dryer sections, recently celebrated its 20th anniversary in business in Lachute, QC.

A large-scale pilot plant at Resolute’s Thunder Bay mill will further develop FPInnovations’ patented process to produce “2G” sugars and hydrolysis lignin (H-lignin) using mechanical refining, mild chemical treatment and enzymatic hydrolysis.

Some companies have latched on to this visualization technology to make at-the-scene maintenance more time-effective and sure. Integration with the Industrial Internet (IoT) is essential to achieve it's full value potential.

Stora Enso and BillerudKorsnäs announce plans to phase in microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) in paperboard products. Lightweight milk cartons with Stora Enso MFC are already market tested.